Rottingdean Branch Surgery Closure

You are invited to a drop-in session to discuss any concerns and answer any questions you may have.

1830 - 1930 on 1 August at Our Lady of Lourdes Church Hall in Rottingdean

Statement from Dr David Supple, Clinical Chair of the CCG, on the request to close the branch surgery:

“We have been notified by the partners at Saltdean and Rottingdean Surgery of their plan to close their Rottingdean branch as from September 2018, subject to final decision.

“There is no need for patients registered at Meadow Parade Surgery Rottingdean to do anything to get a new GP; they will be automatically continue to be registered at Saltdean as part of any closure process.

“The doctors at Saltdean and Rottingdean Surgery have assured us they are able to offer a far superior and safer service at their main surgery in Saltdean, than if they maintain the branch site. In the past few months, they have had an increased workload caused by receiving around 600 new patients in a matter of weeks following the short notice retirement of doctors from the nearby Ridgeway Practice (with the premises not made available to the NHS after their retirement).

“The doctors at Saltdean and Rottingdean Surgery have told us that these extra patients can only be managed safely if there is access to specialist nurses and equipment that it has not been possible to provide at two sites. This need reflects a change in the conditions that are now managed in Primary Care, with treatment often requiring more than one clinician (doctor or nurse) available at any one time, and it is only possible to have more than one doctor at the same site at the Saltdean surgery.

“This will bring benefits to patients - the main Saltdean site is purpose built, with full disabled access, modern facilities and several other co-located services. This will offer patients a higher quality service than is possible at a small branch such as Meadow Parade.

“Every effort was made by the CCG to support the partners at Saltdean and Rottingdean Surgery to continue to provide services in Rottingdean. General Practice services across the city are facing the same pressures that are being reported from around England. As a statutory public body, we work within the current policy and framework set out by NHS England and will continue to do so to ensure patients receive on going GP services.

“We have put extensive measures in place to support GPs in the city, including financial, administrative and educational support to help them run their surgeries more effectively and efficiently to free up doctors to provide more care for patients - one surgery saved the equivalent of seven weeks of consultation time per year through a change in repeat prescription process we identified.

“A key area of our plans to improve health and social care across the city is to make sure general practice is more sustainable, more resilient and works efficiently and effectively for many years ahead. This will include integrating some services, with other clinical specialists like pharmacists better supporting GPs, and helping GPs work more collaboratively together. There are also a number of specific scheme such as GP retention package as well as oversees recruitment that the CCG is implementing as part of its workforce strategy.”